September 2005
Hi
I'm trying to replace the battery in the key fob for my wife's clio. Is it a question of levering the key apart with a screwdriver or does the key slide apart somehow.
Any help greatly appreciated before I manage to wreck it!!
Thanks Read more
Can anyone advise of the cheapest windscreen supplier in the UK? Read more
I broke a windscreen on my 525i whilst changing a wiper blade (boy did I feel stupid). I rang around for quotes and got the following:
Autoglass: 450 quid
National Windscreens: 400 quid
Auto Windscreens: 150 quid
Auto Windscreens got the job and I was very happy with the service and the results.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
Will properly fitted exhaust bandage (on a section of the pipe itself, not the box) cause a vehicle to fail an MOT. There's no leaks and the bandage is covering a few small holes on the rolled seam of the pipe. The rest of the pipe is sound and the bandage is lock wired in place. Read more
No need for an apology Steve. I wish I had known about it before an MOT tester failed my old Astra for a small leak in the connection joint between the backbox and centre section. I didn't have any gum gum to hand, so I slapped some Davids/Isopon car body filler in the joint.
Our Citroen Berlingo Multispace, purchased March 2002, was, after a while, discovered to have dampness in the front passenger footwell. It was taken in to the supplying garage, which changed what they called the "shower curtain" in the passenger door.
We soon discovered that the carpet in the footwell was wet again. We took it in. They did the job again.
A third time we discovered that the carpet was soaking. The garage said "Hmmm, it will need to go to the body shop for a few days." So it did. They "tried everything" and said they couldn't find the problem.
Autoglass had a look at the car and said "It's not the windscreen."
I've done a forum search and seen there are various possible causes. We can rule out anything to do with sunroofs and aircon, because we have neither. What could it have been that the garage managed to miss?
(moderators: I've told the above story in Discussion as well, dealing with the issue of payment. I hope it is OK to post a seperate thread here on the technical side.) Read more
nice one oyne, sounds like that could be the source of the problem, had my windscreen replaced three times on my pugeot partner 2005, almost certain that the water isn't coming from there.
i dried out the floor mat but after a spell of rain its wet again. its driving me mad!...
Help!
About 3 weeks ago I had the pleasure to be pooped on by a large bird (Albatros by the mark on the bonnet.........) whilst on the motorway. Later that week another bird added a meaasge nearby.
That weekend I cleaned the car (Autoglym shampoo) and this had not removed the marks.
I dug out the Autoglym pack I got free subscribing to What Car? and used the resin polish on the marks. No joy there. So I used the Paint Renovator which appeared to do the job followed by the resin polish.
It looked fine and I thought I had done the trick. 3 weeks on and I cleaned the car this weekend and when chammying dry I could see the poo marks again, both of them with a sort of haze where I had polished around them. I am horrified. The car is just 6 months old! What is next? Do I use paint renovator on the whole bonnet followed by the polish on wait and see Volvo?
Volvo could argue that I should not have used any polishes and this would invalidate a complaint about the paintwork but the poo marks are still very clear.
In hindsight I should have just driven it in to them after washing it and asked, but when you look at a polish that says 'suitable for all types of Automobile paintwork, inc acrylics, cellulose, metalics and clearcoat finishes' you think it can just be slapped on.
Any advice would be appreciated as to how to extricate myself from this mess. Read more
Top tip.
One word of advice though is not to be tempted to use them on leather interiors. Can seriously damage the finish I have heard.
Hello,
I have a 1999 Vectra 2.0Di and today my speedo suddenly stopped working along with the tachometer.
Can anyone point me in the right direction as to where I should start looking?
Kind regards,
Cyrill666 Read more
thats seems a very reasonable answer to me,as long as the s/h replacement does indeed work.
Hi all.
I have been driving my wife's 1.25 LX Fiesta Zetec and have noticed what can only be described as strings of horsehair type material coming out of the exhaust. I am assuming that the exhaust is far from optimum, but not being very technical, I'd like to know what this is likely to be before it sees a garage.
Although I don't drive it too often, there is currently no noticeable effect to the performance of the car.
Any help appreciated.
Cheers.
Ian.
--
Top Turkey - the fastest hands in Brum Read more
Interesting one this - how about 2 extremes .......
1) We had a Corsa 1.4 16v. Used for short journeys from new - the exhaust needed replacing @ 2 years old - the rear had simply rusted away from the inside!
2) A pal of mine has a Diesel Scenic - X reg used as a taxi - has 270,000 miles on the clock and has the original exhaust.
So, it seems that the cycle from hot to cold and the water generated in the warming up process is key to how quickly these systems rust out!
Day 4 of Porsche 968 ownership, and it is proving as enjoyable as hoped ( www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=33...2 ). Still wonder who has left their car on my drive in the morning as I go out to work....
Being White, it looks fantastic when clean, but it doesn't stay that way once it's been driven in rainy weather.
What's the best way of keeping a car clean? - is a home compressor the way to quickly keep the car clean on a regular basis - or what about the recently advertised systems that you can use with a hose system? Didn't really care about the Cavalier, but with the car being such a good looker, it deserves to look good.
And wax / other preparations to keep the car cleaner....
All tips on how to keep the car looking great gratefully received
Jono Read more
I have used a Turtlewax water blade for the past two years both on our V70 and 306.
Top product.
I'm a bit annoyed. I try to do the right thing when I'm driving and one thing that bugs me is people who abuse disabled parking spaces. So this has one has got me.
Sign as follows:
=================
Disabled
badge
holders
only
=================
8am - 6pm
3 hours
No return
within 1 hour
=================
Now I, and everyone I've subsequently spoken to, interpret this as meaning that this parking bay is reserved for disabled badge holders between the hours of 8am and 6pm. I parked there at 19:40 this evening.
The ticket I got on my car earlier suggests my understanding of the sign is incorrect.
I've checked the highway code and there are no examples that have this kind of ambiguity that I can see. Is there anyone here who can explain why my interpretation is incorrect? It strikes me that if a sign is subject to "interpretation" then it has no validity.
I know I'm not alone in my interpretation as I asked a number of passers by what they took the sign to mean. I also asked the doorman at the pub and he said he's not seen tickets issued there before.
Before I send a "you can stick your ticket up your local authority multicultural all loving single mother biased backside" letter to the local council, can someone tell me I'm wrong IN LAW, not opinion, and back it up with the relevant detail? If it's so obscure that only a traffic cop might know it then I'd argue that no reasonable person could be expected to understand the sign.
Then again it my just be a yawning chasm in my understanding and I should never venture from my driveway again.
Read more
I have been reading this article for several days now. You talk of disabled parking spaces and the road sign. However you have failed to clarify if the road was clearly marked as a bay with the word disabled on the road as well. This could have a major implication on the interpretation of the sign.
Personally I believe it is meant as a disabled bay at all times, but between 8am and 6pm no disabled driver is allowed to park for longer than 3 hours, on any day of the week.
I agree the sign wording could lead to ambiguity, but my policy has always been to be cautious with any specialist parking bay (including Doctor, Nurse, Disabled, etc.). I always believe that a short walk is better than a possible fine.
Having written here previously about the moving biting point on my 43,000 mile 2002 model C5 2.0 HDI 110, and the dealer finding nothing wrong while in warranty, I feel the symptoms are getting worse now.
When holding the clutch down for any legnth of time, say 5 to 10 seconds, while the engine is hot, the biting point moves so that the slightest movement of the clutch makes it bite. A few more presses of the clutch, say 1st to 2nd gear, and 2nd to 3rd while moving, and the clutch feels normal again.
There is no slippage and I do not 'ride' the clutch, I match my gears and revs well when changing, so I am sure there is minimal wear to the friction material.
Having inspected, and the garage done the same, there is no fluid leakage.
I have obtained prices for the master and slave cylinders to be replaced, the master is a very long job, taking about 3 hours, the slave is well under an hour.
Do you think this is definatly the master, or is it worth changing the slave first to see if it makes a difference?
Thanks in advance
Ben Read more
Lots of bits to disconnect/remove before you get to the clutch itself. Then you have to put them all back again.....
On the old XM's my mate who runs an auto transmission rebuild 'shop reckons it took about 20 hours to remove and refit the transmission! He hated doing them because they tied up a lift for a couple of days.
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Wonder if that would work with my golf, I quite like the new GTI.......!
Thanks for the help from all who responded, my next posting will probably be "I was changing the battery in a renault key fob when I impaled my wrist on a flat headed screwdriver, apart from casualty, are there any other options? (as the key to the clio doesn't work....!)
Cheers!